A prolific source of atmospheric pollution associated with the operation of coke ovens is the gas, smoke and particulate matter which is displaced or escapes from the oven through one or more of the charge holes during the charging operation.
One method of controlling this emission is to apply suction to the oven from the associated gas collecting main and a steam jet positioned in the upper part of the gas ascension pipe has commonly been used for this purpose. This method is both costly and inefficient since the steam used is simply expanded to increase its velocity and convey gas into the collecting main by mixing and conservation of momentum, no attempt being made to re-convert the kinetic energy of the combined steam/gas stream to pressure energy as in the orthodox steam ejector. Furthermore the steam used for this purpose must be removed from the gas stream and its condensation places an increased load on the primary coolers.